(Pixabay)

The rogue robot is a familiar sci-fi trope: images of a compromised machine waving its arms and shouting Warning! Does not compute! as explosions shake the polystyrene set. But what if that rogue robot were an industrial machine in an automotive, electronics, avionics, or pharmaceuticals factory? What if it were an entire smart facility?

The question chimes with the ongoing tabloid obsession with Terminators, malignant AIs, and job-stealing robots; it seems designed to stoke public fears about the rise of machine automation, a process that has been ongoing since the Eighteenth Century. And it comes inevitably from an enterprise cybersecurity provider with something to sell, Trend Micro.

The company has produced a detailed, 45-page report, Rogue Automation: Vulnerable and Malicious Code in Industrial Programmingwhich at least grounds the issue in something prosaic and machine readable.

Ironically, the medias concerns are often rooted in a binary view of society: that anything that is on for machines must be off for humans as though there is a finite list of tasks in the world, more and more of which are being taken away from people. The real-world economy doesnt work like that; it creates new jobs, new services, new companies. But are Trend Micros fears more justified? The short answer is: yes.

The crux of the matter isnt so much the future as the past, explains the report: legacy code in proprietary industrial automation routines, allowing attackers to exfiltrate files from a robot and/or introduce malware:

We examined 100 open-source automation programs for robots and discovered that most of them were affected by vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to control or disrupt a robots movements. Fortunately, the most critical ones remote function execution vulnerabilities were in demonstrator code. We hope that no one has ever used that code to teach class or, worse, derive production code.

Indeed, but the report goes onto explain that programmers in this field tend to copy and paste code, causing vulnerabilities to propagate across open-source projects, sometimes even into commercial, mission-critical products. An interesting use of hope, then.

The report explains:

Our findings are relevant to the modern and future factory because the flaws we found are descended from design choices made decades ago. These decisions determined the technology, techniques, and tools that are still used today to program industrial machines.

What does this mean? To create an assembly line in a factory, designers have little choice but to rely on custom, proprietary, or legacy programming languages, few of which have been designed with an active-attacker model in mind, says Trend Micro:

Some lack features, such as cryptographic functions, that are essential to implementing modern security measures. The platforms offered by some vendors do implement a few security mechanisms, most of which are bolt on and do not integrate well with the programming environment.

As a result, while the operating system may have security features such as authentication and access control, the programming layer is a black box with no fine-grained security control. This leaves it open to attackers.

In short, vendors have locked customers in to antiquated code, but not out of malice. The problem then becomes that it is impractical to fix these design flaws, because legacy programming environments cant be easily ripped out and replaced in manufacturing any more than they can in healthcare, another sector where highly regulated systems are being networked that were never designed to be.

Nick Tudor is Director of D-RisQ, a company specialising in assurance and trust systems for robotics. He tells me that it is this exposing of systems to the networked world that creates unnecessary problems:

If they are air-gapped, none at all [threats], but a big problem is if they start hooking them up to the net. Some are now considering adding 5G to these machines in various ways. The attack surface is about to get significantly larger.

At this point we should look at the big picture: the threat outside the factory walls, rather than lurking in the code or the bare metal. Are malicious actors actually targeting factories and other industrial systems? The answer again is: yes.

Reports published earlier this year by SonicWall, Dragos, and others, revealed that hackers are increasingly targeting the Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial control systems (ICS), including with new ransomware variants that lock up ICS functions and demand cryptocurrency payments. These came to light between December 2019 and February. Since then, the world has had other problems to contend with.

Meanwhile, Capgeminis 2020 reportSmart Factories at Scalefound that one-quarter of all manufacturers have experienced a cyber-attack on their connected systems over the last year, with the impetus behind it invariably being financial.

That report got straight to the heart of the matter. While logic dictates that it is better to design something from the ground up than to retrofit ageing systems, it is a hell of a lot more expensive:

In our previous research, we estimated the cost of setting up a new greenfield factory for a top-ten auto OEM to be between $1 billion to $1.3 billion. In comparison, the cost for a brownfield setup was estimated to be between $4 million to $7.4 million per factory.

Capgemini published other findings that contrasted starkly with the economic prize on offer: only 14 percent of the 1,000 organisations surveyed by the company described their smart factory projects as successful. Scaling programmes beyond the pilot phase can be overwhelmingly complex in IT and operational technology convergence, it found, compounded by legacy systems and a lack of skills.

So what does Trend Micro believe are the solutions to the reams of ancient code that allow modern hackers to slip into industrial systems unnoticed? Rather than simply flog its wares, the company has collaborated with Robot Operating System Industrial (ROS-Industrial), a consortium of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and research organisations.

Their joint recommendations are echoed by the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), says Trend Micro. They include:

Network segmentation: Use proper network protection devices to isolate industrial robots that need to process data coming from other networks. This should be done with a physical cable to make spoofing possible only to an attacker who is physically on site.

Secure programming: Promote secure programming guidelines among control process engineers and programmers. This minimises the attack surface exposed by legacy automation code.

Automation code management: Know and keep track of the automation code that is produced by a system integrator and runs in the factory. This type of oversight is a fundamental prerequisite to finding, managing, and resolving vulnerabilities and other security issues, says the company.

The other issue is this: know your attacker, who is likely to be a highly skilled individual or organisation with specific knowledge of the target facility, including the industrial platform being targeted. They are likely to have the budget to set up a lab for experimentation:

The programming environments for industrial machinery make it easy for attackers to abuse any low-level system resources, because there is no differentiation between privileged and non-privileged instructions. This is in contrast to the state of almost all modern computing systems.

Danger, danger!

More:
Friday Rant - Rise of the Rogue-Bots? - Diginomica

The pandemic has repeatedly reaffirmed our needs for robots. The time has come for industrial robots to take over factory floors and showcase the suite of benefits they bring to manufacturing.

Robots are generally known to automate repetitive tasks and free up valuable time for their human colleagues to take on more complex and creative tasks; the current social distancing measures have built a stronger case as to why we need robots.

Industrial robots have a long legacy of assembling everything from heavy automobiles, airplanes, electrical appliances, and are now even bring developed for more domestic tasks such as sorting out your trash.

Globally, robots have demonstrated remarkable versatility and strength in taking over human labor with consistent speed and precision. This highly efficient employee has won over factory owners. The global industrial robot market size is predicted to hit US$66.48 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 15.1% during the forecast period, statesFortune Business Insights.

Although there is a phenomenal growth in industrial robots, a new report titled Rogue Automation by Trend Micro Research found that some robots have existing flaws that make them susceptible to cyber-attacks.

Theresearch paperaims to reveal previously unknown design flaws that malicious actors could exploit to hide malicious functionalities in industrial robots and other automated, programmable manufacturing machines.

Since robots are generally connected to networks and programmed via software, they could potentially pose as entry points for bad actors. The report listed several real-life examples of flaws found in the software produced and distributed by Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation ABB, one of the worlds largest industrial robot producers. Researchers also spotted vulnerabilities in the popular open-source software named Robot Operating System Industrial or ROS-I.

Researchers discovered vulnerabilities in an app written in ABBs proprietary programming language and used to automate industrial machines. The discovered flaw is the very tool that hackers can leverage on and gain access to networks, exfiltrating valuable files, and sensitive data.

Industrial secrets are traded for very high prices in underground marketplaces and have become one of the main targets of cyberwarfare operations, the study noted.

The research also found a vulnerability that attackers can exploit to interfere with a robots movements via a network. By spoofing (an unknown source disguising as a known, trusted source to communicate) network packets, attackers can cause unintended movements or interrupt existing flows of set procedure, but adequately configured safety systems could make it challenging for hackers to succeed. This vulnerability found in a ROS-Is software component was written for Kuka and ABB robots.

The report clarified that appropriate measures were taken to deal with the discovered vulnerability. One was removed by the vendor (ABB) upon our responsible disclosure. The other vulnerabilities fostered a fruitful conversation with ROS-Industrial, which led to the development of some of the mitigation recommendations described, as written in the report.

Robotics are continuing to show their worth on the factory floors, and while theyve been a fixture in many industries such as car manufacturing for decades, they are becoming increasingly advanced and versatile. Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), cloud, and 5G are fueling the evolution of highly automated and increasingly intelligent industrial robots.

The International Federation of Robotics estimates that by 2022, we will see close to 4 million industrial robots in factories worldwide. At the same time, the intricately connected networks between machines and systems are susceptible to the growing scale and robustness of cyberattacks.

Dr. Nicholas Patterson, a cybersecurity lecturer at Deakin University,commentedthat the security risks are not limited to industrial robots but also home-based robots such as robotic vacuum cleaners and drones.

Follow this link:
Industrial robots are dominating but are they safe from cyber-attacks? - TechHQ

Green Bay Press-Gazette business reporter Jeff Bollier, aka Streetwise, wants to hear from you with news on new businesses, openings, closings, expansions and improvements. You can contact him at jbollier@gannett.com. March 14, 2018.

ASHWAUBENON - Part of the soon-to-closeGordman's store could soon be converted to a new concert hall owned by Festival Foods CEO Mark Skogen.

Epic EventCenter would be owned by Skogen and occupyroughly half of the 60,000-square-foot Gordman's building at 2351 Holmgren Way. The venuewould host up to 2,000 people.

Renovations and development of the space is expected to cost $2.5 million to $3 million. The plan is scheduled to receive final municipal review Aug. 25, Ashwaubenon Community Development Director Aaron Schuette said.

Skogen's interest in operating a concert hall has been known since fall 2016 when he proposed a similar project in Green Bay's Shipyard area along South Broadway. The venue would have added private development alongside a proposed stadium for the Green Bay Booyah.

By early 2018, the Booyah accepted assistance from Ashwaubenon to build a new stadium, now Capital Credit Union Park, along Holmgren Way just south of the village hall. The move forced Green Bay to scrap its Shipyard plans and shift redevelopment plans to focus onother recreational uses and residential housing.

Rich Otradovecof Ash Investors LLC, which owns the Gordman's property, said renovations could begin shortly after Gordman's ends its going-out-of-business liquidation, with a tentative goal of opening in January.

"We like the concept and feel strongly about it," Otradovec said. "Now, we're just fine-tuning some elements of it. We just need to work out a few more things before we're ready to move forward."

The north end of the recently closed Gordman's store, 2351 Holmgren Way in Ashwaubenon would be converted to a new concert hall under a plan that was recently submitted to the village.(Photo: Karl Ebert/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

In addition to concerts, Epic Event Center would also hostcorporate gatherings and other events, general manager Melissa Toonen said.

Otradovec said Epic EventCenter expects to host 70-80 shows and special events each year. The venue would have a main floor andmezzanine areas for viewingand would offer drink service, a pickup lane for ride-share drivers and an attached outdoor area where food trucks could pull into serve patrons on concert nights.

"It's exciting and would help local businesses," Toonen said ofthe food truck drive-up.

Toonen said the Epic team expects to be able to target specific types of programming and events based on whatever health and safety recommendations remain in place when the venue is ready to open. For example, she said if physical distancing and capacity restrictions are in place, Epic would book more comedy shows that draw smaller audiences than music concerts.

"It really depends on what happens in the future," she said.

The entertainment industry has been beset by cancellations and postponements as health officials continue to recommend people avoidlarge group gatherings, especially indoors.

In late July, Capital Credit Union Park rescheduled the Wilco-Trampled By Turtles show, originally planned for Sept. 18, toSept. 17, 2021. And on Friday, the Foo Fighters canceled their Oct. 15 stop at Resch Center, which itself was rescheduled from May.

RELATED: Wisconsin businesses say industry-specific funding, extending the PPP loan forgiveness period important if PPP continues

Toonen said the venue will work with public health and safety officials to follow guidelines and safely open.

Epic is working with nearby businesses to secure the use of additional parking spaces to meet the needs ofa performance venue.

"It's a good fit for the area going forward and hopefully they're successful," Schuette said. "It's an indoor concert venue. There's no residential development in the immediate area that could cause issues with noise or traffic."

Toonen noted the remainder of the Gordman's building would be available for lease by another tenant.

A public hearing will be requiredbefore theVillage Board can act on the proposal because the Gordman's building was restricted to retail-only use when it was built.

A rendering of the northwest view of the Epic Event Center, 2351 Holmgren Way, in Ashwaubenon. The plans call for converting part of the former Gordman's building into a live music and event venue with space for 2,000 people.(Photo: Courtesy of village of Ashwaubenon)

Streetwise senses these nontraditional re-uses of large retail properties could continue to come forward. Several other retail property owners in the village have inquired about taking similar steps with other sites. Schuette said the village is weighing them individually.

"We certainly understand the situation building owners are in and want to maintain flexibility," he said. "We're open to ideas other than retail as we move forward."

Contact him at 920-431-8387 or jbollier@greenbaypressgazette.com; follow him on Twitter at @GBstreetwise .

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Who's hoping to make an Epic impact on Green Bay area music scene with a new concert venue? | Streetwise - Green Bay Press Gazette

Subscribe to data newsletters

Before jumping into popular MOOCs or purchasing recommended books on Amazon, I started by subscribing to various data science and data engineering newsletters. At first, I was reading every single article and taking notes, but over time learned to recognize the important links shared in multiple newsletters and focus on a few. Newsletters are great to stay up to date with new tools, academic research, and popular blog posts shared by large internet giants (e.g. Google, Netflix, Spotify, Airbnb, Uber, etc).

Here are some of my favorite newsletters:

I also subscribe toData Machina,The Analytics Dispatch, andAI Weekly.

Next, depending on your focus, you need to craft your data science, data engineer, or data analyst curriculum. This may include learning how to program in Python or R if you are switching careers from a non-programming role. If budget is not a concern, joining a bootcamp or taking courses fromUdacityandDataquestmay be a great option to get online mentorship from industry experts. However, if you are price-conscious like I was, you can opt to follow open-source guides to create a free curriculum:

One caveat here is that simply taking these courses is not be enough. I generally found most courses and tutorials online to focus on either the foundational knowledge (e.g. math, statistics, theories) or simplified guides to walk through a trivial example. This is especially true in big data since tutorials tend to use a smaller subset of the data to run locally instead of walking through a full production setup on the cloud.

To supplement the theory with realistic scenarios, I suggest joiningKaggleand using Googles free tools such asColabto practice working with large datasets. You can also search for Github repos from Udacity students to see what a capstone project might look like.

Any career guide would tell you that networking is important. But how does one go about finding industry experts willing to mentor or simply answer some questions? Prior to the pandemic, one option was to attend meetups, but that opportunity was largely limited to residents in major tech hubs like the Bay Area, New York, or Seattle (at least in the US). The other option was to attend conferences or workshops focused on data science, machine learning, or data engineering. However, the tickets for these events were very expensive, making it impractical for individuals to attend without company sponsorships.

As a startup employee living in Baltimore, my solution was to network online by first watching free videos of sessions held by industry partners at tech conferences (e.g. AWS re:Invent, Microsoft Ignite, or Google Cloud Next) and connecting with the speakers on LinkedIn. Aside from the keynotes and the sessions on new cloud product releases, there are tons of sessions on best practices and architecture discussions where a product manager or a lead developer from an industry partner (e.g. Lyft, Capital One, Comcast) would present with a solutions architect at AWS/Azure/GCP on solving a real problem at scale. I would take notes on the session and then reach out to all the speakers on LinkedIn with a question about their product or an architectural decision mentioned in the talk. Surprisingly, almost all the speakers were willing to respond and continue to conversation with me, even though I was just a recent grad working at an unknown startup at the time.

Over time, I steadily grew my network this way and had the added benefit of staying up to date with new products and industry trends across all the major cloud providers. Considering the current situation with COVID-19 and the continued shift towards virtual events, this may become the new norm in networking instead of attending conferences to meet other stakeholders in person.

While cloud certifications are by no means validation for ability or data knowledge, I still think theres value in investing in certifications. This is especially true if you are aiming to be a data engineer as cloud knowledge is imperative for running production workloads. Even for data scientists, becoming familiar with cloud products enables you to actually focus on analyzing the data instead of struggling to load and clean data at scale.

Another underrated aspect of getting certified is the network opens up. There are very active members on LinkedIn, particularly in tech consulting, posting about new opportunities in cloud data positions. Some recruiters post directly in LinkedIn groups for certification holders only. Certification alone wont lead to a new job or position, but having those badges makes it easier to start a conversation with others or recruiters. Personally, I landed a few small consulting projects after acquiring the certifications.

Finally, as with any engineering discipline, you will only improve with practice. If you are already working as a data scientist or data engineer, getting real-world experience should not be an issue. For others looking to transition, many will recommend building a portfolio. But where do you start? Working with the classic Titanic dataset for survival classification or clustering for the iris dataset is likely to hurt your portfolio than help you.

Instead, try to use public Github projects as inspiration. Based on the network you amassed from LinkedIn via tech sessions and certifications, look at what others are building. Feel free to use examples from Udacity or Coursera projects on Github. Then mix in real datasets fromGoogle Research,Kaggle, orsearch for an interesting datasetand start building solutions for real problems.

If you are interested in a sector or a specific company, try to search for public datasets and build a sample project. For example, if you are interested in fintech, try usingLending Clubs public loan datato build a loan approval algorithm. The biggest takeaway from working with real datasets is that these are very messy and noisy compared to ones provided in academic settings.

Go here to read the rest:
5 free resources every data scientist should start using today - The Next Web

Led by the mantra that mechanical engineering is based on software development, Rexroth, a Bosch Co., has brought a new generation of automation software to market. The new system, ctrlX Automation, extends beyond the companys hardware heritage in areas of hydraulic, electric, pneumatic, and mechanical drive and control technologies to offer a platform for complete automation solutions.

The new software-focused system brings traditional tools together with IT standards to bring control engineering into the age of smart manufacturing the Internet of Things (IoT), in keeping with a new corporate strategy we reported on last year. This relates to our May story, 3 Packaging Lines Improved by IoT Data, but the company wanted to wait to disclose details pending its US market releasewhich is now official.

Dave Cameron, director of sales, presents latest update on Rexroths Factory of the Future vision.

Designed for machine builders, systems integrators, and end users with the resources to do their own control engineering, the system is initially targeted for specific, focused applications, namely robotics, material handling, and drives. In packaging, this makes it applicable for secondary and end-of-line realms. According to Dave Cameron, director of sales, future apps are in the works for additional packaging, assembly, printing, additive manufacturing, and machine tool apps.

Abbreviating applications to apps, incidentally, is one cue that the system is positioned for this era of IoT- and mobile-friendly deployments, as evident in the internet standards that largely define the system.

The software includes preconfigured apps that can be further customized. These include a PLC, motion controller, drive, human-machine interface (which can be web-based), monitoring dashboard, IoT gateway, and more. Apps in development include artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning routines to monitor and detect variations in machines or processes. (See more apps here.)

Rexroth says the system has eradicated the traditional boundaries between machine control systems, IT, and the Internet of Things.

Lets start with a new generation of hardware control modules called ctrlX Core. Based on 64-bit multicore CPUs. The control modules are offered in three forms: a standalone ctrlX controller, on a control module integrated into a servo drive, or an industrial PC. These run Linux, with the IPCrunningWindowsand also getting a Linux release. This offers scalability depending on the function, from real-time control to the greater overhead of workstation-level applications, as needs require. These support fieldbus options such as EtherCAT, Sercos, Ethernet IP, and Profinet. Support, in fact, spans common device protocols, interfaces, and communication standards, including support for more than 30 IT and IoT standards OPC UA (server and client) and MQTT, the leading machine-to-machine connectivity protocol well known for driving closer interfacing between operational and IT systems.

Cameron called the software the heart of the new platform. That being the case, the systems crown jewel software, ctrlX Works, is its digital heart of hearts. Claims that it reduces engineering time by 30% of 50% owes to the softwares large portfolio of preconfigured apps for common factory automation tasks. Users can customize them, develop their own (in seemingly any programming language), and more integrate third-party apps with relative standards-compliant ease.

Starting with programming, users can choose between their familiar, traditional tools as well as new methods. These include IEC 61131, PLCopen, or G-Code, or other conventional high-level or internet languages, which Rexroth says liberate teams from depending only on hard-to-find PLC specialists.

Software functions can be based on preconfigured or customized apps, combining traditional and newer languages: C++, Python scripting, or graphical languages, such as Blockly or Node Red, a low-code Javascript graphical environment. This variety helps users expand their skills (and recruiting) base and opens new possibilities for app development through GitHub, the leading open-source community for code-sharing.

The software for system design, maintenance and engineering can be accessed directly on the ctrlX CORE controller, by using any device with a simple web-browser. This eliminates the need for separate engineering software on a different PC.

To show how web-based engineering works, Rexroths Brian Schmidt, application engineering supervisor, demonstrated the creation a 3-axis motion control app using IoT-friendly Node Red, which he also uses to build a web-based human-machine interface. Most of the program flow is created graphically, but you can also write snippets of code, he says, as he creates the program, jogging axes and the robot. He then tests the system using a 3D visualization app for feedback. Users can simulate their project before they download their actual automation programs to real-world hardware. He also created a pick-and-place application using different programming options. (See video below.)

Rexroths Brian Schmidt demonstrates web-based engineering by building a 3-axis motion control app (at the 5-minute mark), and shows its operation using a 3D visualization app. At the 10-minute mark, he shows another way to program a pick-and-place application, then gives a closer look at the control hardware running the demo.

The apps are modular, and priced individually. You just buy the software according to what you need for your application, says Allen Tubbs, product manager Rexroth controls. Also in the works: a device portal for at-machine upgrades and an online app store. According to Tubbs, the system is designed to be as open as possible. That means inviting customers and even other providers to develop solutions around our architecture. He says the company currently has a developer portal, and plans to encourage GitHub participation, as well.

Assurances of future-proofing include extensive compliance with standards for data communications and legacy software migration/interfacing; secure encrypted communications based on IEC standards that will continue to evolve; and provisions for 5G and time-sensitive networking.

As end users gain experience with IoT data visibility, this type of system is poised to help companies extend their IoT implementations for greater machine, line, and plant performance. The data connectivity and visibility gained, Rexroth points out, will lead to more effective forays in machine learning and AI, up to and including lights-out manufacturing.

Continued here:
Will You Soon Download Packaging Machine Controls from the Internet? - Packaging Digest

By: Entertainment Desk | New Delhi | Published: August 10, 2020 1:26:44 pm Amitabh Bachchan revealed that a fan has written him an alternate job letter. (Photo: Amitabh Bachchan/Instagram)

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has received an alternate job suggestion from a fan. Sharing it on his blog on Sunday, Big B wrote, my job is now insured.

This comes after Bachchan recently expressed concern over going jobless following Maharashtra governments guidelines which barred any cast or crew members above 65 years at the shooting site of fiction or non-fiction programming during a pandemic.

Amitabh Bachchan shared that a fan wrote a letter, an excerpt of which read, if you want to do something which will last forever, then we suggest that you open a Peace Shop Sell Peace that shop can never go out of business. The fan in the letter also drafted a flowchart for the actor to prepare for the venture.

Heres Amitabhs full blog post:

Dear Mr. Amitabh Bachchan,

Re: Your Application for an alternate job vide Day 4539

In view of the permanent kind of temporary moratorium on work imposed on you by the governance due to your age, and the loss of revenue caused by the same, we are pleased to inform you that your application for an alternate job is temporarily under review for permanent reasons

(By the way, before we forget, please register our request that if you understand anything of what we are saying, please let us know too)

Long ago, when we were growing at a rapid rate when half pants became a quarter in less than half the time everything was temporary

Studying was temporary, games were temporary,

Crying was temporary, annoyance was temporary,

Time was temporary

We lived in the temporary

Today, there are signboards at each post, saying the same thing

We are temporarily closed due to Corona

As if we didnt know

But what they dont say when they are in business is that

We are temporarily open due to good times

Which, I guess, is a fact that is taken for granted

I realized this during the long power outage last week during the gale and thunder storm Food, electricity, drinking water, air, sunlight etc. everything is here for the moment

Nothing is near, nothing is far, everything is temporary

So, here is our offer

Sir,

if you wish to do nothing, yet you want to feel as if you are something, then we suggest that you become the President of the United States

But if you want to do something which will last forever, then we suggest that you open a Peace Shop Sell Peace that shop can never go out of business

Let us draft a flowchart for you to prepare for the venture

1) Vision To provide a rolling plan for ways and means to acquire and sustain peace

2) Mission Make sure that it remains a rolling plan Peace alive is peace dead

3) Amis and Objectives Define Peace, develop immeasurable standards for peace, and draft governance models for ensuring that the standards are impossible to achieve

4) Policies Develop and enforce codes of conduct which will make the objectives happen

5) Systems Draft and build an organisation of functions which are both horizontally and vertically indefinite Make sure that everything and everyone is included

6) Procedures Develop and establish procedures for each function such that no single procedure is standalone every procedure must rely on another to produce results

7) Standards Establish standards for each procedure Make sure that the standards are not auditable we live in a democracy Use the preamble to beat audits

8) Codes of Practice Adopt all new codes of practice Remember, history is recorded for telling us what has been defeated in the past Historical successes are compromised

We sincerely hope that you will lead our temporary enterprise We will wrap it up as soon as it shows signs of positive results

Looking forward to your favourable response, and assuring you of our best services at all times,

We remain,

Yours truly,

Sd/-

my job is now insured ..

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Amitabh Bachchan on fans alternate job suggestion: My job is now insured - The Indian Express

A more realistic depiction of an eviction

By Dick Hall-Sizemore

As has been reported on this blog, the Virginia Supreme Court granted Governor Northams request to extend the moratorium on evictions related to non-payment of rent.

The court was closely divided, 4-3. The dissenting opinions are quite convincing. It is obvious that the majority, cognizant of the dilemma caused by thousands of tenants out of jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic and facing eviction from their homes, decided to give the Governor, General Assembly, and (implicitly) Congress one more chance to come up with a solution.

Evictions generally

Rather than debate the merits of the Courts decision, I am largely responding to, and following up on, Jim Bacons recent post regarding evictions and what happened to the federal CARES funding that has been provided.

Jim suggested that one answer might be that poor people became suddenly overwhelmed with additional financial burdens, but he doubts that is the answer. Another possibility he, and some commenters, raised is that poor people are squandering their money on stupid stuff or feeding their drug/alcohol addictions rather than using it to pay their rent. He then concedes that he has seen no evidence to confirm that conjecture. (One wonders why he would raise these two possibilities if there were no evidence to support them.)

Although Jim dismisses the possibility that poor people and the unemployed are not getting the additional federal money, that is indeed one plausible explanation for which there is evidence. There are estimates that 12 million poor people have not received their $1,200 stimulus checks. It is likely that a good number of those people live in Virginia. The Virginia Employment Commission was overwhelmed with claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and did not start taking applications for the $600 weekly supplement until July 2 and issued the first checks on July 7. If you got laid off in April, and had been living paycheck-to-paycheck before that, it would have been quite easy to get behind on your rent while you were waiting for VEC to process your unemployment claim and before you could even submit a claim for the $600 supplement.

Another possibility is that people got some of these benefits, but it was not enough. If you were laid off in early March, you could have easily been a month or two behind in your rent by the time you got your $1,200 stimulus check. After you used that check to pay off the back rent plus penalties (you would be lucky if it were enough), you would be trying to make ends meet while you waited for VEC to process your claim.

One commenter was correct in pointing out that reasons other than nonpayment of rent, such as property damage or rules violations, can be causes for eviction. However, as Jim Sherlock explained in his recent post, the Virginia Supreme Court amended its first moratorium order to allow eviction cases for reasons other than nonpayment to go forward and the most recent court order also allows those types of actions.

Lost in this discussion is the recognition that folks are often evicted for being only a few days late on the rent, usually because the date on which they get paid does not coincide with the date the rent is due. If they are late even a few days, late fees and penalties can be tacked on, putting them further in the hole.

Although it is illegal for landlords to do so, tenants are evicted in retaliation for complaining about unhealthy living conditions, inoperative appliances, leaky roofs, etc. or for reporting the landlord for housing code violations. It is up to the tenant to prove that it was the intent of the landlord to retaliate and that is often hard to prove. Furthermore, if a tenant does not have a lawyer, and few do, they are not likely to raise this issue in court. n fact, there are law firms that advise landlords that the retaliation provisions are narrow and easy for them to beat.

Governor Northams response

Some contributors and commenters on this blog take the Governor to task for not calling the General Assembly into session earlier, in June or July, to deal with the eviction problem, rather than putting the Supreme Court in an obviously awkward position. I disagree. The Governor did not need to call the legislature into special session earlier because he already had the power and the resources to deal with the problem until the August special session. I blame the Governor for not using this authority and resources and for not being sufficiently aggressive in the past in dealing with the eviction problem.

The estimated number of potential evictions varies with the time frame being considered. In his July 24 letter to the Chief Justice, the Governor cited over 6,000 cases pending for hearing between July 20 and August 7. The Legal Aid Justice Centers Virginia Eviction Tracker notes that 8,587 cases are scheduled to be heard by September 21.

There are at least two factors that would indicate that these estimates overstate the number facing eviction due to overdue rental payments. First, as already noted, not all evictions are related to non-payment of rent. It is not known how many of the pending cases would fall into that category, but taking those out of the count would result in fewer tenants facing eviction due to non-payment.

A second factor is the Eviction Diversion Pilot programs that took effect on July 1 in Danville, Hampton, Petersburg, and Richmond. The essence of these programs is the establishment of payment programs whereby a tenant can pay off past due rent in installments. Until the participants have fully paid their back rent, their cases remain on the docket. Therefore, the number of pending cases probably includes some cases in which tenants are paying their past due rents off gradually.

The number of tenants participating in the pilot programs is not known. I asked the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court, which was responsible for establishing the programs, for the data and was referred to the clerks offices for each of the courts participating. E-mail addresses of those offices are not readily available. Although the Supreme Court is seemingly trying to wash its hands of any further involvement in the program, the legislation establishing it requires the Court to provide data to the Virginia Housing Commission (a legislative agency) at such times as requested by the Commission. The Governor should ask his fellow Democrats on the Housing Commission to request data on the participation in the Eviction Diversion Program. That would give him a better idea of the scope of the problem.

Whatever the number of tenants facing eviction, the Governor earlier passed up an opportunity to follow up on prior actions to provide the most crucial assistance, short of money, that a tenant can have: a lawyer. Many commentators have noted that legal representation of tenants can lead to a significant decrease in evictions. In his 2019 budget recommendations, the Governor included the $2.6 million requested by the State Bar to hire 35 attorneys to represent indigent tenants. (The State Bar does not provide such representation itself; rather, the funds would be used to contract with the Legal Services Corporation of Virginia to provide the services.) The General Assembly reduced this amount to $1.3 million and stipulated that it was for additional staff for the State Bar, without mentioning the provision of legal assistance for poor people facing evictions. (See here and here.)

There was no funding for additional eviction-defense attorneys included in the 2020-2022 budget bill submitted by the Governor, but the General Assembly stepped up and provided an additional $1.5 million annually for housing attorneys. That funding was part of the $2 billion in new funding later unallotted due to the economic effects of the pandemic. It will be interesting to see if the Governor recommends freeing up those funds in his budget recommendations to the reconvened session. That would be an effective and relatively inexpensive way of partially dealing with the eviction issue, although its effect would be delayed until attorneys could be hired.

As for immediate, tangible assistance for tenants, there was no need for the Governor to go to the Supreme Court for an extension of the moratorium. He had a statutory moratorium and a pot of money that he could use to help tenants.

As noted by the dissenting Justices of the Supreme Court, the General Assembly had passed HB 340, with amendments requested by the Governor, and effective immediately. The legislation enabled any tenant who had been laid off as a result of the pandemic to obtain a 60-day continuance on any eviction proceeding.

To provide financial assistance to such tenants, the Governor earmarked $50 million of the federal CARES funds that the Commonwealth was slated to receive. But, as is the case with all programs, it took some time to get this assistance program up and running. In the middle of a pandemic, with many staff working from home, the problems were even greater. In his July 24 letter to the Chief Justice, the Governor reported that we have worked to provide relief to 1,880 households experiencing economic hardship as a result of the pandemic and processed payments to 467. That was just a drop in the ocean of over 6,000 cases pending for hearing between July 20 and August 7. Out of curiosity, I called the phone number provided for information on the program. A voice mail response told me to leave my name and number and that it may take several days for a counselor to call back. (I started to leave my number just to see how long it would take someone to call me back, but I decided not to clog up the system any more than it already was.) Obviously, the administration waited too long to put its rent program together, so that it could be ready to operate as soon as the money was available.

The Governor could have been more proactive in providing financial assistance for persons facing eviction. The Commonwealth is entitled to approximately $1.8 billion in federal CARES money. The $50 million allocated for eviction and foreclosure relief is less than three percent of that total. That seems to be a really small proportion to be used to meet, in the Governors words, the distinct threat that the most vulnerable Virginians will be evicted from their houses at a time when our public health crisis is expanding.

Undoubtedly, the administration would counter that there are many other COVID-related expenses for which the federal money is needed. Although the exact numbers are not readily available to the public, they would probably point to the millions used in FY 2020 to pay the costs of testing, PPEs, etc. That is largely a budget and accounting subterfuge. Agencies used their general fund appropriations to cover these COVID expenses. At the end of the fiscal year, when the federal funds were available, but agencies were no longer able to enter transactions into the state accounting system, the Department of Accounts changed the coding of those expenditures from general fund (fund 01000) to CARES (fund 10110). The result was a freeing up of general fund appropriation that contributed to the states year-end balance (surplus). The agencies never saw or benefited from the CARES funding. That CARES money that was used to increase the year-end general fund could have been used instead for eviction relief. The total amount is not publicly available, but I think it, added to the $50 million, would have gone a long way toward helping tenants behind in their rents.

A major shortcoming of the administrations rent assistance program is that it provides one-time payments only. Such a payment might be enough to enable a tenant to catch up on back rent owed. For those that now have jobs, it would mean that landlords would be paid and the tenants could continue to have a home. It will not help someone who is unemployed to keep up those payments in the future.

It really seems that the Northam administration has no long-term plan to address the eviction crisis. In his July 24 letter to the Chief Justice, the Governor referred vaguely to working with the General Assembly on a legislative package to provide additional relief to those facing eviction and to expand financial assistance for tenants through our rent relief program. The General Assembly is scheduled to convene in Special Session in less than two weeks. would seem that the Governor would want to roll out his legislative program before then, for no other reason than to provide some credibility for his moratorium extension request. In any event, he has the authority today to allocate more federal CARES money for his rent relief program; he does not have to wait for the General Assembly.

Supplemental UI benefits

Conservatives have taken a curious position regarding unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and evictions. On the one hand, they acknowledge the difficult position of tenants who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and say they want every tenant who cannot pay because of COVID to be able to stay in his house. On the other hand, they tend to oppose the very means whereby the unemployed can stay in their houses and landlords can also be paid: the federal supplemental UI benefit of up to $600 per week.

A major objection they raise is that this supplement results in a lot of people receiving more from UI benefits than from working and thus having little incentive to return to work. Upon close examination, however, this objection does not hold up. In the first place, with some exceptions, workers who fail to look for work or turn down a job risk losing all their unemployment benefits. Secondly, people actually are returning to work. In May, employers added 2.5 million jobs, in June, 4.8 million, and in July, 1.8 million, as the unemployment rate declined. Finally, proponents of this position offer only anecdotal evidence. On the other hand, recent research has shown that the enhanced UI benefits did not act as an incentive to remain unemployed.

Another objection is that continuing the supplement of $600 per week would be too costly. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that the cost to extend the benefit through December would be $437 billion. I agree that is a lot of money. But so is the estimated $258 billion, for calendar year 2020 alone, in tax breaks embedded in the CARES legislation that benefits millionaires and billionaires (including the Trump and Kushner families). When conservatives start howling about these benefits flowing to the rich through the CARES act, they might have some credibility when they complain about those unemployed, through no fault of their own, getting an extra $600 per week.

The current societal problems associated with the homeless population would be greatly exacerbated if thousands of unemployed people were suddenly evicted in the middle of a pandemic. There are various programs to assist the homeless, but conservatives should really prefer the supplemental UI benefit. Other than the existing unemployment office staff and procedures, there is no additional bureaucracy to suck up some of the money. Rather, it is efficient with the money going directly to the unemployed to spend on rent, food, clothes, medical care, etc.

And spend it they did. There is strong evidence that the economy would have been significantly worse off than it was had it not been for the supplemental UI benefits. If we are going to avoid turning families into the streets, but see that landlords get paid, the government needs to do something to help unemployed tenants weather the pandemic-induced recession.

Related

Read more here:
Another Perspective on Evictions - Bacon's Rebellion

@pramod.pandey83Pramod Chandrayan

CPO @FarmArt | AIML| Data Science | Product Engineering Consultant

Current IT practices, to support effective and efficient software development has seen a great paradigm shift. Now monolithic architecture is being replaced by Microservice architecture. Developer, QA and Operation team are no more working in their relative siloes. They are being bridged with the implementation of Dev+Operation amalgamation which we call, DevOps.

Now tech driven businesses need quick development and faster release cycle if they want to become more customer oriented to get quick Idea validation, all this led to the birth of CI/CD practices which is at the core of DevOps culture.

Earlier the entire SDLC was linear and sequential which led to the longer release cycle of the product, but with this fast changing market dynamics aggressive competition and ever changing customer needs, companies cant afford to cling on to same old development practices. They have to be more closer to their customer and need to constantly innovate to keep them engaged.

DevOps offered this solution and is been widely adopted by IT driven companies to improve their processes & practices for rapid delivery.

Lets try to understand What is DevOps all about?

DevOps Definition:

I very often quote w.r.t to DevOps that

Its time to make all your team members irrespective of their department to work closely with each other adopting tools and practices for effective and efficient delivery of software products.

Amazon defines DevOps as:

Microsoft puts DevOps in more simplified manner:

Which I feel is the best way to explain DevOps. It is a culture, is a philosophy to put people first in an organization, giving an congenial environment to allow them to thrive, so that irrespective of their department, they can collaborate & communicate well through a well defined process, to deliver results. To make the process efficient, allowing teams to work effectively there are many DevOps tools which work as an enabler of DevOps culture.

As discussed above DevOps doesnt have any fixed set of rules and practices, but it is more like a culture within any organization where teams from various departments having varied skill-sets come together to deliver an intended outcome. So how does this actually work, well let me explain it briefly through a diagram below:

So here Developers, QA, & Operation team use CI/CD practices to achieve the desired goals for the customer. Developer writes code and commits them to the source control tool like GitHub. The code gets pulled using CI tools by DevOps engineer to manage test automation and deployment to the production or staging test servers is handled through CD tools.

People having both development and operations skill sets work together and use various tools for CI-CD and Monitoring to respond quickly to customer's need and fix issues and bugs.

As you can see below:

There are multiple tools available for DevOps engineer to avail and achieve the desired outcome at every stage of the DevOps life Cycle.

Planning:

You can use Jira or Azure DevOps Board to manage and plan your work in an Agile way.

Development:

For code management, Git is the number 1 tool to manage your Code version History, branches, Push and Pull mechanism as a distributed way. You can also use Microsoft TFVC (Team Foundation Version Control) which is a Centralized version control system.

To automate your testing you can rely on Selenium, JUnit and Apache JMeter.

Jenkins is one of the most popular CI tool which enables integration of Developer process with operation process seamlessly.

Travis & Bamboo are other tools for CI.

Deployment & Configuration Management

Docker is one of the most popular & widely used tools for continuous deployment. It is also known as a Software containerization tool.

Other deployment & configuration management tools are Kubernetes, Chef, Ansible, and Puppet.

Monitoring:

Once your product is deployed in the right place, continuous monitoring becomes vital. Nagios, Splunk or New Relics are some of the widely used tools to support continuous monitoring

We will cover about CI/CD tools in length & breadth in the next article

DevOps CI/CD tools for agile enterprise development stay tuned

As discussed at the start of the article that for an IT driven organization to become more customer oriented they need to transform themselves from traditional software development practices to agile methodology of releasing products for their customers. Let us try to understand what are those best DevOps practices they need to adopt:

Let me explain them in brief

Amazon defines CI as:

Continuous delivery is a software development practice where any code changes done by developer are automatically prepared for a release to production.

Continuous delivery expands upon continuous integration by deploying all code changes to a testing environment and/or a production environment after the build stage.

Its a new software design approach where you build a single app as a set of small services/modules. As compared to Monolithic architecture where all the front-end and back-end code base along with database are all deployed in one go all pointing to the same server address, microservice architecture based app are broken down into services where each of them runs in its own process and communicates with other services through a well-defined interface using a lightweight mechanism, typically an HTTP-based application programming interface (API).

As per Amazon:

Is the process of managing and provisioning computer data centers through machine-readable definition files(code base), rather than physical hardware configuration or interactive configuration tools.

So developers can use code-based tools to interface with infrastructure to treat them more like an app. This enables infrastructure and servers to be swiftly deployed using standardized patterns, updated with the latest patches and versions, or duplicated in repeatable ways.

Traditionally, server (lifecycle) automation and configuration management tools were used to accomplish IaC. Now enterprises are also using continuous configuration automation tools or stand-alone IaC frameworks, such as Microsofts PowerShell DSC or AWS CloudFormation

Companies monitor metrics and logs to see how their application and infrastructure is performing. APM(Application performance management) strives to detect and diagnose complex application performance problems to maintain an expected level of service. APM is the translation of IT metrics into meaningful business metrics.

By capturing, categorizing, and then analyzing data and logs generated by applications and infrastructure, organizations understand how changes or updates impact users, shedding insights into the root causes of problems or unexpected changes.

As per wiki:

Two sets of performance metrics are closely monitored. The first set of performance metrics defines the performance experienced by end users of the application. One example of performance is average response times under peak load. The components of the set include load and response times.

I feel:

Increased communication and collaboration in an organization is one of the key cultural aspects of DevOps. With this culture in place, teams come together with the right kind of attitude and motivation to set strong cultural norms around information sharing and facilitating communication through the communication tools & apps, allowing all parts of the organization to align more closely with common goals and objectives.

To understand the value addition DevOps and how it has been adopted by companies:

Lets see the below infographics brought to you by veritis.

Above given infographics clearly lay down following key benefits of DevOps practice:

Speed:

DevOps facilitate organization to move at high velocity so you can innovate for customers faster, adapt to changing markets better, and grow more efficient at driving business results.

Quick Delivery:

With CI/CD based DevOps culture the application release cycle has been shortened, allowing quicker customer feedback and meaningful innovation to flourish within an organization. The quicker you can release new features and fix bugs, the faster you can respond to your customers needs and build competitive advantage.

Reliability:

DevOps empowers you to continuously improve upon your software quality through practices like continuous integration and continuous delivery to test that each change is functional and safe. This leads to the development of reliable & tested application & robust infra. DevOps continuous Monitoring and logging practices can help you to be well informed of your performance in real-time.

Culture:

DevOps fosters a great work culture to build more effective teams under its cultural model, which emphasizes values such as ownership and accountability.

Security:

By adopting DevOps model organization can use infrastructure as code and policy as code, to define and track compliances at scale, without sacrificing security. They can quickly progress while retaining control and preserving compliance.

Implementing DevOps culture in an organization is not easy. There is no standard set of rules to do so, it is more a game of changing the mindset of individuals and team of individuals. Its like asking people to get out of their comfort zone.

So lets see what are some of the common challenges In adopting DevOps as a culture.

1. Dev Vs OpsMindset:

Since ages developer and operation team has been working in isolation with totally different set of task to perform. So they have been fine tuned to think and act differently. Devs trying to innovate and make changes as quickly as possible and operations trying to maintain 100% service levels. Their objectives and priorities were different, so if we have to bring DevOps as a cultural practice in organization, that very mindset they are two isolated stream has to be eclipsed

Legacy infrastructure has been existent in the companies for years, but if they have to innovate fast they have to shed this approach and adopt more scalable IT architecture of Microservices. Using Infrastructure-as-code together with microservices is yet another step towards a future of continuous innovation.

However, there is a high entry barrier to change to microservice driven system. Adopting Microservice architecture requires best DevOps practices along with CI/CD implementation to be in place. It brings enormous workloads and operational challenges for an organization along with increased cost factor.

Devs team has totally different objective and metrics to measure and so they may need a toolset which may not be required for Ops team. So it is imperative that both teams are brought together to understand where they both can collaborate and integrate tools which makes sense to both of them and to unify the objective and metrics they can monitor.

Some teams may be reluctant to part with legacy tools that are not only technologically inferior but that also slow down the entire infrastructure due to compatibility issues. So make sure, the tools that are being implemented are aligned well to the companys product vision.

We will look into CI-CD practices, tools and implementation strategy.

Will try to understand why they are important and how they are changing the fate of the companies in a bigger way.

Till then stay tuned&

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Excerpt from:
DevOps Fundamentals You Ever Wanted To Know - hackernoon.com

The use of AI for biodiversity conservation can help prevent the extinction of plants and animals and thus maintain a stable ecosystem.

The extinction of plants and animals such as Rhynia, Pluchea Glutinosa, Dodo, Great Auk, Tasmanian Tiger, and Western Black Rhinoceros in recent years is a matter of great concern since it adversely affects our ecosystem. Every species of plants and animals is important. Why? The existence of both plants and animals has always been vital to humans. Extinction of organisms disrupts the food chain and hence affects the ecosystem. Therefore, humans are very much dependent on plants and animals for survival. Hence precautionary measures should be taken to maintain the stability of the ecosystem. The traditional biodiversity conservation methods have not shown much impact lately. Thus, the use of technology such as ML or AI for biodiversity conservation can help prevent further extinction of plants and animals.

The use of AI can help prevent the extinction of endangered plants and animals. Let's see how AI can be used for biodiversity conservation:

With the recent development of AI-powered devices for the conservation of animals, we can now prevent wildlife extinction. After the extinction of western African rhinoceros, African elephants are next on the verge of going extinct due to the involvement of extensive poaching. According to a report by HuffPost,African elephants may be extinct by the year 2020.Due to this reason, an American multinational corporation and technology company has taken a step forward to stop poachers attack African elephants. The company has come with an AI-based technology security system that promotes anti-poaching. The AI-based technology system uses a camera that detects poachers planning to attack an animal and subsequently generates an alert to the park rangers in real time. According to the Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation,one elephant is killed every 15 minutes due to illegal hunting.Hence, this AI-based system can prevent illegal hunting of animals to a great extent. TheAI-based system uses a vision processor with neural network algorithms to detects an object and classify images inside the camera.According to the company that has invested in this technology the AI-based system has helped cut down poaching at Serengeti National Park in Africa. The AI-based system hasdetected members from over 20 different poaching gangs within the first 15 months of its installation.Similarly, a number of such AI-based devices are manufactured by technology companies that can greatly help in animal conservation.

Plants are very beneficial for human lives and greatly help in fulfilling our necessities. They help fulfill our basic necessities as they can provide us with food, shelter, and medicine. The more the number of trees present in an environment, the greater is the amount of oxygen produced. Hence, plants greatly help in maintaining the stability of the ecosystem. Based on a report by Mongabay,according to scientists, one in every five plant species are on the verge of being extinct.This clearly implies how important it is to conserve plants.

The California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic Society have jointly developed anAI-based networking platformthat can help in the conservation of plants globally. The AI-based platform allows its users to click and share photos of various species of plants in real time. It also allows the other community members to identify the photos of the specific plant and confirm the plant's presence, whether if such a plant already exists. In this way, the AI-based networking platform can help discover new species of plants worldwide. This technology has proved to be a sigh of relief for scientists. It used to take hundreds of years by scientists for the collection of data about various types of plants and their existence. Now, with the help of this AI-based platform, scientists can collect data much effectively and on a large scale, and thus they can suggest measures to prevent the extinction of plants.

Read the original here:
Conserving Biodiversity with AI - BBN Times

WHO WE ARE

The mission of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is tohelp people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflictand disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future.

The IRCs vision is to lead the humanitarian field by implementinghigh-impact, cost effective programs for people affected by crisis,and shape global policy and practice by sharing our learning andexperience with others.

All IRC programs are designed to achieve meaningful change inpeoples health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and ability toinfluence the decisions that affect their lives. The IRC maintainsa dedicated professional Research, Evaluation and Learning(REL) Technical Unit team to ensure that the organization is bothoutcomes driven and evidence based in its approach.

What do we mean by outcomes?

The IRC has made a commitment to focus on the impact wehave on the communities we serve my making measurableimprovements in their lives in five outcome areas: Health,Safety, Education, Economic Wellbeing and Power.

What do we mean by evidence?

Evidence refers to information that is systematically obtainedand analyzed to determine whether, how and why a givenintervention works. The IRC identifies, prioritizes and uses thebest available information from research studies that indicateand explain causal impact. We generate evidence usingrigorous methods that answer the most critical questions foraction.

WHY OUR WORK MATTERS

The IRC is committed to delivering services that achieve resultsfor people we serve by increasing the rigor with which we design,implement and evaluate our programs. In line with the IRCs 2020Strategy, programs are increasingly oriented around achievingspecific priority outcomes and designed based on the bestavailable evidence. In cases where evidence is weak or does notexist, the IRC conducts research to generate evidence.We are rolling out new tools to measure program data and trackthe results of programming. We use cost data to compare theefficiency and effectiveness of different interventions and deliverymodels across contexts with the goal of improving accountabilityand determining the best use of available resources. Theseapproaches enable the organization to help save lives andjumpstart recovery, use our resources most effectively, and achievemore sustainable solutions for the people we serve.

WHAT WE DO

IRC practitioners provide technical assistance to more than 30country programs. Technical advisors are charged with stayingabreast of the best available research and practices in theirrespective fields and sharing these with the IRCs frontline teams.They also lead advocacy strategies to encourage partners andpolicy makers to adopt the interventions proven to be effectivebased on our research and experience.

HOW WE DO IT

The REL Unit team is working to enhance the IRCs effectivenessby gathering and synthesizing the evidence base for what works;generating evidence where scant research exists; orienting theorganization around outcomes; building new tools and systems tosupport measurement; and optimizing our use of resources.

> Evidence Based

Understanding, referencing and applying the best availableresearch evidence to our programs enables the IRC to strengthenits effectiveness and improve the lives of conflict- and disasteraffected people.The IRC recognizes that delivering effective programming requiresbeing clear about outcomes and grounding the choice and designof our interventions in theories of change.

See more here:
Research, Evaluation and Learning at the International Rescue Committee - World - ReliefWeb